Bhutto Survives Double-Bombing; Dozens Dead (Updated)

Ms Bhutto escaped unhurt and the procession carrying her through Karachi, which had been attended by tens of thousands of supporters, was abandoned in the chaos.

Hours earlier Ms Bhutto had flown into Karachi from Dubai, ending eight years of self-imposed exile. In the week before her return Baitullah Masood, a Taliban commander from the tribal belt, vowed to send suicide bombers to kill her.

Televised views of the scene showed bodies in the nighttime city streets, crowds running through traffic that is at a standstill and the noises of sirens and people screaming.

Before the explosions, hundreds of thousands of supporters lined the streets, dancing on bus roofs, waving banners and surging forward for a glimpse of their leader as she inched her way through the city atop a bullet-proof truck.

Sky News says "Ms
Bhutto’s procession was heading to a rally near the tomb of Mohammad
Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, when the attacks happened."

Christina Lamb, Ms Bhutto’s biographer, was on the truck at the time of the explosions…

"We had been on the bus for about nine hours, there were huge crowds and we were talking about what a great atmosphere there was.

"Suddenly there was an enormous blast and everybody just screamed. I was covered in blood, but it wasn’t mine, it was somebody else’s.

"There were about 20 people on top of the bus, it was pretty exposed."